Jon Stewart Apologizes For Telling CNN He Did Not Vote — Video

UPDATE, with video:Jon Stewart apologized profusely to viewers for having told CNN this afternoon that he had not voted, after word of that comment to Christiane Amanpour became a “thing” in social media. He says he’d made it up. He did not say why.

Talking to Amanpour hours earlier, about his new movie Rosewater and the midterm elections, she had asked him, “Did you vote?”

“No,” he had responded.

“No?!” she’d exclaimed.

“I just moved. I don’t know even where my thing is now,” he said.

First of all, I’ve known where my thing is since I was 13,” Stewart told his The Daily Show audience at the top of tonight’s live election-results episode. “To set the record straight, I did vote today. … I was being flip, and it kind of took off. I shouldn’t have been flip about that. … It sent a message that I didn’t think voting was important or that I didn’t think it was a big issue. And I do, and I did vote. I was being flip, and I shouldn’t have done that. That was stupid. So, I apologize.”

33 Comments

• on Nov 5, 2014 5:17 am

so John Stewart lied about voting and only told the truth when social media made him look bad, or did he really vote? Fun to pick on others when they make a mistake, let;s see how John handles the tables being turned.

David Deem • on Nov 5, 2014 7:14 am

Jon Stewart will say anything to get attention, who knows what he really is about.

• on Nov 5, 2014 10:51 am

He just did handle it. He apologized.

• on Nov 5, 2014 10:57 am

He took the high road as always. He applogized…seriously. thats what smart caring people do. Maybe you did not understand what you saw and heard. Unfortunate for you.

jerzygirl45 • on Nov 5, 2014 11:02 am

From the way he said it, it’s clear (well, to me) that he was joking. And then he clarified that on his live show last night.

Bling Crawsby • on Nov 5, 2014 2:28 pm

John Stewart is a comedian. Please don’t let the fact that his show reports on more important news than the actual news channels fool you into trying to hold him to journalistic standards. British people in the 1970’s didn’t look to Monty Python as their pillar of socially conformist integrity, after all: they just made silly jokes about dead parrots and lumberjacks. Oh, and of course, “the Larch.”

Elgin • on Nov 5, 2014 2:54 pm

So his name is written multiple times in the headline/story and you still can’t spell it correctly? Cool. I’m really giving serious consideration to your comment. You’re clearly thoughtful and smart.

Jeff • on Nov 7, 2014 3:28 pm

“Here children is someone nitpicking spelling, which usually signifies they have no better methods with which to debate. This is a tactic often used by people debating with the under-hand. It is most commonly (but not always), followed by false attribution, false equivalency, or if they are particularity unskilled, hyperbolic character attack.”

Charles David Haskell • on Nov 5, 2014 5:30 am

I can’t believe that Jon Stewart didn’t vote in a country where everybody vote. Look at the country where people have to go through hell to vote.

Josh • on Nov 5, 2014 6:33 am

You should be ashamed of yourself these days if you vote. You’re the reason for all the bad the government causes all over the world.

• on Nov 5, 2014 11:15 am

I can’t believe you can’t read.

Dan • on Nov 5, 2014 7:35 am

You were being “flip”!? No, Jon, you were being a liar. You lied, then made up a story about not finding your “thing”. Liar.

JamesG • on Nov 5, 2014 1:22 pm

Or, as they call it in certain circles, “Comedy” you fuckwit

iamgoz • on Nov 5, 2014 1:25 pm

Or, as they call it in certain circles, “Acting” or “Comedy” you fuckwit

HowardB • on Nov 5, 2014 9:02 am

This is just confirmation that public figures, celebrities and journalists must think before they speak, as every word they utter has the potential to become viral. It’s a shame they can no longer speak off the cuff, but that’s the world we live in.

Educated Mind • on Nov 5, 2014 10:08 am

Voting doesn’t matter anyway. The vernacular says it all:

The Electoral ‘College’ is an ongoing study of public opinion.
A polling place, is a location used to take polls of public opinion.

George W. Bush’s “people” stole both elections by force. Do you really think a man paints portraits of world leaders was our “President.” He rarely ever shows up on the media to criticize Barack Obama, or to talk about world affairs, because he can’t, because he did not really run things in the White House. That’s why it is ALWAYS Dick Cheney who hits the press circuit to criticize Obama, because Cheney was running things for the power players in control.

Barack Obama was stooged up the system by the same powerful people who put Bush in place. He was the “rock star” president, hip, and cool, and absolutely unbeatable. He had no justification whatsoever for being the President of the United States. Yes he was a ‘Senator’, but in name only. You can see how inexperienced he is right now. He has absolutely NO idea how to run a country, or be our Commander in Chief. And that is exactly what these behind the scenes power players want: a loyal stooge to represent their corporate interests.

And yes, I know this vote involves Mid Term elections. But the same process occurs on the Senate and Congressional level as well. Case in point: John Boehner as speaker of the house. The man is as dumb as a box of rocks, but he’s kept in place to serve people like the Koch Brothers.

This is why I refuse to vote.

ProgressNotPerfection • on Nov 5, 2014 12:11 pm

You are part of the problem, not the solution. Our government survives only because educated, caring people choose to exercise their right to vote. Armchair quarterbacking the day after the election, especially since you refuse to vote, is meaningless no matter how erudite you perceive yourself to be.

• on Nov 5, 2014 12:50 pm

No, I think if someone as misguided and paranoid as “Educated Mind” chooses not to vote, we are coming out ahead. If you care and you educate yourself, by all means vote. If you don’t, then don’t. I didn’t vote on most of the judges because I didn’t know anything about them.

Bling Crawsby • on Nov 5, 2014 2:30 pm

Yes, we also realize that politics has deteriorated to the equivalent of “professional wrestling with ties” (Dana Gould)
It’s just meant to be a diverting entertainment so we don’t’ notice our leaders robbing us blind and eroding our constitutional rights

Diane Miller • on Nov 5, 2014 4:48 pm

You need to shut up if you don’t vote. You have chosen to silence your voice, so please do so.

Educated Mind • on Nov 5, 2014 7:26 pm

Please prove my points wrong rather than uttering hollow proclamations about how important it is that I “vote.” I have not chosen to “silence my voice”, I have chosen to “speak my mind”, and I’m doing it on one of the best forums in the entire country: Deadline Hollywood….THE periodical for media power players. Les Moonves, Reed Hastings, Charlie Ergen, David Zaslav, Nancy Dubuc and other media moguls read the articles on this website everyday and peruse the comments. So, no, I am not remaining silent Diane Miller.

I wish you well as you drive around with your Obama bumper sticker in Brentwood, and do everything you can to make sure your family eats organic food.

Rhon • on Nov 5, 2014 1:07 pm

He corrected it to say he did vote. Poor joke to say the least. All of his talk about big money. He’s worth $80 million. Not shabby…

empresstrudy • on Nov 5, 2014 1:51 pm

He DID vote. In Egypt, for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Cjr Udek • on Nov 5, 2014 2:10 pm

Yeah, right Jon. If you voted, show us your sticker!

Diane Miller • on Nov 5, 2014 4:46 pm

Produce your ballot stub on air, Mr. Stewart. I know you received one. Because now I don’t believe you DID vote.

SJ • on Nov 6, 2014 10:01 am

Wasn’t much of a “joke” was it? I think he accidentlly told the truth, then made up a lame lie. Someone will find out for sure.

• on Nov 6, 2014 6:05 am

Truth be told he didn’t vote and its because voting doesn’t do shit

JC • on Nov 6, 2014 9:55 am

I agree. The one argument against people not voting is what a waste of time it has become in the current political environment.

• on Nov 6, 2014 9:50 am

Haha He should have just sent an illegal immigrant to vote for him.

• on Nov 6, 2014 9:52 am

Hmmm, let’s see – there’s PAC’s, Super PAC’s, gerrymandering/redistricting, lobbyists, special interest groups, repulsive negative ads which cost over $5.5 BILLION for this years mid-term, voter restriction that prevents people or makes it very difficult for them to vote, partisan politics that gets nothings done, politicians who care ONLY about getting elected and getting re-elected, a scattered voting system that is inaccurate, a congress that doesn’t understand what compromise or a majority is, a supreme court that is as partisan as congress.
Gee, why wouldn’t people want to vote?

JC • on Nov 6, 2014 9:53 am

Hmmm, let’s see – there’s PAC’s, Super PAC’s, gerrymandering/redistricting, lobbyists, special interest groups, repulsive negative ads which cost over $5.5 BILLION for this years mid-term, voter restriction that prevents people or makes it very difficult for them to vote, partisan politics that gets nothings done, politicians who care ONLY about getting elected and getting re-elected, a scattered voting system that is inaccurate, a congress that doesn’t understand what compromise or a majority is, a supreme court that is as partisan as congress.
Gee, why wouldn’t people want to vote?